City
Epaper

Instagram co-founders shut down their Artifact news app

By IANS | Updated: January 13, 2024 10:10 IST

New Delhi, Jan 13 Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who launched AI-powered news aggregator app Artifact ...

Open in App

New Delhi, Jan 13 Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who launched AI-powered news aggregator app Artifact a year ago, on Saturday announced to wind down operations of the Artifact app.

The reason they cited was that the market opportunity was not big enough to “warrant continued investment”.

“It’s easy for startups to ignore this reality, but often making the tough call earlier is better for everyone involved. The biggest opportunity cost is time working on newer, bigger and better things that have the ability to reach many millions of people,” Systrom, who is the CEO of the app, said in a blog post.

Artifact app was recently named the “everyday essential app of the year” by the Google Play Store.

The company has decided to remove the ability to add new comments and posts.

“This type of content requires a fair amount of moderation and oversight and we will not have the staff going forward to support these features,” said the CEO.

The existing posts, however, will remain visible to users on their profile self-view. In the meantime, Artifact will continue to operate the core news reading capability through the end of February.

“We are at an existential moment where many publications are shutting down or struggling, local news has all but vanished, and larger publishers have fraught relationships with leading technology companies,” said Systrom.

“My hope is that technology can find ways to preserve, support and grow these institutions and that these institutions find ways of leveraging the scale that things like AI can provide,” he added.

The shutdown came amid a slowdown in the usage of other news aggregators, like SmartNews.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Open in App

Related Stories

BusinessMaruti Suzuki bookings touch 2.5 lakh this festive season; exports grew by 50%

International“A Significant Step”: PM Modi Applauds Donald Trump Leadership As Hamas Agrees To Release Israeli Hostages

MaharashtraFadnavis Hits Back at Rahul Gandhi, Defends India’s Constitution, Mocks Uddhav Thackeray’s Frustration

InternationalTrump administration reverses homeland security funding cuts targeting New York

Navi MumbaiUlwe Road Accident: Fisherman Dead, Driver Hurt as Speeding Car Rams Pickup Near Atal Setu Toll Plaza

International Realted Stories

InternationalUN chief welcomes Hamas' statement on US Gaza proposal

InternationalAmid shutdown, Trump blocks funding for Democrat-run Chicago

International10 PLA, 7 PLAN vessels detected operating around Taiwan territory: MND

InternationalTrump hails Hamas’ promise to release all Gaza hostages

International"Military families already seeking food assistance due to financial anxiety caused by Democrat shutdown": White House